Businesses, social services worry about ripple effect from state cuts

Oregon shop owner Jan Prose fears that the Blagojevich administration’s plan to lay off hundreds of state workers and close nearly two dozen state parks will cripple her business.

Jeff Kolkey

Oregon shop owner Jan Prose fears that the Blagojevich administration’s plan to lay off hundreds of state workers and close nearly two dozen state parks will cripple her business.

Prose’s TJ’s Bait and Canoe Rental in Oregon along the Rock River is smack in the middle of two state parks that would close to the public Nov. 1: Lowden State Park and Castle Rock State Park, which combined drew nearly 414,900 visitors to Ogle County in 2007.

Her canoe rental business was already pummeled by bad weather and rough waters on the river early this summer. Now, closing the state parks threatens her business next year.

“If I can’t use the boat launch to do pickups, it will hurt business substantially,” Prose said.

The far-ranging cuts would affect human services, state parks and historic sites, including Apple River Fort in Jo Daviess County to the west.

The cuts could affect services to at-risk children in the Rock River Valley as a net reduction of 179 jobs is expected statewide from the Department of Children and Family Services. DCFS Spokesman Kendall Marlowe said specifics about how many jobs might be lost in the Rockford office are unknown.

Marlowe also said it is unknown how the cuts would affect caseloads of workers but that legally mandated services and visits to at-risk families would not change. Some jobs would be shifted from low-need to high-need areas of the state.

“These cuts will have an impact, but we have worked very hard to minimize the affect of these reductions on direct services,” Marlowe said. “All the requirements in laws and policy are still in effect.”

State Sen. Dave Syverson was critical of the cuts because they target front-line workers and spare management, threatening to drive up what he said were already high caseloads for DCFS and Human Services staff.

And state parks are a tourism draw that only serve to boost the state’s economy, Syverson said.

“The problem is that (the governor) doesn’t understand these parks aren’t that expensive to operate and we have people from out of state that come to these parks, so it’s an economic advantage,” Syverson said. “Plus, in today’s economy with high gas prices, these parks are the one form of entertainment that Illinois families can use.”

Ogle County tourism will suffer with the closing of Castle Rock and Lowden state parks, said Erin Folk, superintendent of recreation for the Oregon Park District.

With two large parks and a recreational facility, Folk said that even without the parks, there will continue to be many available recreational activities available for residents. But it will hurt the area’s ability to draw folks from the outside to businesses within the community.

“It’s very unfortunate that two of the state parks are closing,” Folk said. “They brought wonderful amenities to the community and brought tourism.”

Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris McCloud said it has not been determined how the park closings will affect the fall hunting season.

“This is very tough day for Illinois,” McCloud said in an e-mail message. “These are not decisions we wanted to make, but they are the consequences of a struggling economy in America.”

Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374 or at jkolkey@rrstar.com.